Join us on Thursday, March 19th, 2026 at 7:00 pm EST for Animal Positive Coalition’s Virtual Mentor Session

Mentor Sessions are online group gatherings rooted in continuing education and sharing experiences. Each month there will be a new topic for discussion and we will be inviting members of APC with expertise in the topic to help share their insights and experiences, and to guide the conversation. These sessions are designed to feel more collaborative rather than be a formal presentation. They can also be a place to get guidance on specific cases and challenges you are working through in your animal training career. Group participation is what fuels these sessions, and we open the call for input from those who attend. These sessions will be recorded (some portions may not be) and added to our content library for those who cannot attend/future reference.

This Month: Cooperative Care w/Lucy McKnight

Join us for a discussion focused on cooperative care in practice. Participants are invited to submit case studies involving handling challenges, medical procedures, or implementation barriers. We’ll explore practical, force-free strategies that support animal welfare, staff/handler safety, and sustainable low-stress care.

Lucy McKnight (she/her) is a force-free trainer and behavior consultant whose work centers on learner wellbeing and functional, low-stress training. Her work examines medical, environmental, and behavioral variables when designing training and behavior modification plans.

Her foundation in cooperative care began working with exotic mammals and reptiles, where safe handling and stress reduction were critical. She later worked in open-admission shelters contributing to animal care, behavior, adoptions, and procedures from intake to euthanasia. These experiences deeply shaped her commitment to proactive, low-stress handling and thoughtful case management.

Lucy now teaches and consults at Peaceable Paws, with professional interests in behavior impacted by pain, high-arousal dogs, and cooperative care as a framework for agency and trust. She holds her CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, and PMCT1 credentials.